Thursday, May 17th, 2012

Witness testifies to seeing Beaton stabbing

Posted on February 15, 2012 by Corey LeBlanc coreyleblanc@thecasket.ca

The second-degree murder trial for Robert Harris Lamb, who is accused in the stabbing death of Jonathan Beaton Jan. 1, 2010, continues at the Pictou Justice Centre. Here, Lamb is shown heading to an earlier court appearance in Antigonish. (File photo)

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[Editor's note - Wednesday, Feb. 15 at 2 p.m: According to the Evening News in New Glasgow, Chris Rogers testified Wednesday morning that he saw Jonathan Beaton get stabbed. When asked if the person was in the courtroom, Rogers identified Lamb. He said Beaton was stabbed twice in the abdomen. After telling RCMP officers he had seen Beaton being stabbed, Rogers was given a series of photos and asked to identify anyone he remembered from the party. He picked out a picture of Lamb and testified that the man pictured stabbed Beaton. Rogers said that identification took place about a week and a half after the stabbing.
Rogers said he drank about one-third of a quart of rum that evening, but said it would not have affected his observational abilities. Defense attorney Don Murray questioned him about conflicting colours he had given in earlier accounts when describing what Lamb and his friends were wearing that night.]

Crown witness testimony continued as the second week of the trial for a man charged in the death of Jonathan Beaton got underway in Pictou.
Robert Harris Lamb, 22, of Dartmouth, is accused in the stabbing death of the Southside Harbour native during a New Year’s Eve party at 123 College Street on Jan. 1, 2010.
Early witness testimony has painted a picture of a celebratory event that went horribly wrong in the early minutes of 2010, including one RCMP member describing the scene as “chaotic” when he arrived at the Antigonish apartment building.
Monday, in Nova Scotia Supreme Court, Cassandra Desmond remembered Beaton looking at her with the “brightest blue eyes” as he told her that he was going to die. She was with him on the College Street sidewalk waiting for help to arrive that night.
“I said, ‘No, you’re not. You’re not going to die,’” the 20-year-old testified as reported in the Tuesday edition of the Chronicle Herald.
Beaton was taken to St. Martha’s Regional Hospital, where he died approximately four hours later from his injuries.
At this point in the Crown’s case, no one has testified to seeing who stabbed Beaton.
Last week, the court heard fingerprints are not identifiable on a knife police say was used in the fatal stabbing.
That was a portion of the testimony given by Cpl. John Landry, a member of the Port Hawkesbury forensic identification unit, Feb. 8 at the Pictou Justice Centre.
Landry said police were able to identify the knife they believe was used in the stabbing, but could not identify any fingerprints on the weapon.
When the trial began Feb. 7, Lamb entered a not guilty plea.
He is the only person charged in Beaton’s death.
Nine men and five women have been selected to sit on the jury, with two alternate jurors chosen.
The Crown has listed up to 47 potential witnesses.
Three weeks have been scheduled for the trial.

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